Film: Sing Street

Ferdia Walsh-Peelo and Mark McKenna shine in a largely unknown cast in Sing StreetWeinstein Company

★★★★☆It’s been done before, on both sides of the Irish Sea: the musical comedy in which unlikely stars defy local derision to taste modest glory. The Commitments, Once, Brassed Off, Little Voice — they all came and warmed our cockles without exactly rewriting the movie manual.

Written and directed by John Carney, who also did Once, Sing Street clings doggedly to the same formula. That it’s still such a success is down to twinkling dialogue, great music, winning performances from a largely unknown cast and some of the most lurid Eighties fashions this side of The Breakfast Club.